The Fix-its
by BrightLightGirl15
Summary: Set after the end of Wreck-it Ralph, how will the Fix-its react to a little unexpected news? A fluffy little story for those of us who can't get enough of Felix and Sergeant Calhoun.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, WiR fans! Here is a little one-shot for those of you who just can't get enough of Fix-it Felix, Jr. and Sergeant Calhoun (like me!). Read and review, especially if you hate it. Thanks! **

The Fix-its

"Felix!" called Sergeant Calhoun. She was at the train stop from Game Central Station to Fix-it Felix, Jr.'s game. She was not happy. Up on the top of the building, Wreck-it Ralph was just being thrown off of the building, and Fix-it was up on the roof eating the pie that the Nicelanders brought him every day. Apparently the owner of the arcade had let the player finish her game after closing time, because Sergeant Calhoun had been keeping both ears ready for the announcement of the arcade's closing for the night. She needed to talk to Felix right away. She looked down at the slim ring on her hand. She wore it all the time, even when she was fighting. It was the ring that Felix had given her on their wedding day. No time for daydreaming now.

"Hey, Fix-it! Get your butt down here!" The words running through her head were much stronger, but Felix generally disapproved of profanity, and she respected him enough to hold her tongue. He looked over at her, and waved. He handed his pie to Mary, the little woman in purple, and jumped to the fire escape. He climbed down quickly, but it still seemed slow to his impatient wife. Finally he jumped up onto a bench right next to her and said,

"Hi, sweetie, what's up?" Her response was a solid fist to his face. He fell to the bench. His eye started to bruise, and his nose looked almost broken. He pulled his golden hammer out of his tool belt and fixed his face with a simple tap to his forehead. He looked up at her with a worried expression.

"What's the matter?" he asked sweetly. His wife did the one thing that he never expected. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed. She sank to the ground and leaned up against the bench. Felix hesitantly reached out and touched her shoulder.

"Tamora? Are you alright? Please tell me what's wrong." He was starting to get really worried. He saw her breathe deeply, and she pulled her hands away from her face.

"I don't know, Fix-it. I really don't know. I think, well, I think…" she couldn't continue. She started to sob again, but this time Felix was standing by her side, and he hugged her. She cried into his shoulder. He really did not know what in the world was wrong with her. She was the tough one, always strong, and dependable, and very rarely emotional. Never, in the entire time that he had known her, had she cried, or even shed a single tear, much less sob like she was doing now.

"Honey, you're going to have to tell me what's wrong." Felix tried his hardest to be firm. His soldier wife looked up at him and wiped her eyes.

"You're right. Fix-it, I'm, um, I'm pregnant," she whispered in between sobs. She looked up at him to see his reaction. The goofiest smile lit up his face.

"That's wonderful!" he exclaimed. In a split second, he was back on his back, and his nose felt like it was broken this time. He quickly hit it with his hammer, and leapt up, choosing to stay out of striking range.

"Hey, aren't you excited?"

"Of course not! It's not in my code to be a mother. How am I supposed to lead my men and play my game with a newborn?"

"Tammy, we'll find a way to make it work. Don't worry about it." He shuffled closer, and rested his gloved hand on her shoulder gently. She smiled at him and pulled him into a sweet kiss.

"You're right, Fix-it," she said when they pulled apart. "You always know exactly what to say to fix anything. You don't even need that hammer of yours." He blushed as red as, well, almost every day that his wife had known him. He cleared his throat and asked,

"So, um, how did you find out?" She rolled her eyes and pulled out a small satchel hidden in her armor somewhere. From that, she pulled out three pregnancy tests. All three were positive.

"Oh. Well, I guess it's official then. Do you want to tell anyone?" Felix really hoped that she would say yes; he didn't think that he would be able to keep this a secret. Tamora could see the excitement bubbling up in his eyes, and even if she didn't say yes, she knew that he would do the same thing.

"Sure." He fist pumped the air. She laughed at his antics.

"Can we throw a party? And invite the entire arcade?" She didn't know if it was the hormones, or whether her Fix-it was just too cute to resist, but she grabbed the front on his shirt and pulled him to her in an intimate kiss.

"It's your kid, Fix-it. Whatever you want to do is fine with me." He smiled.

"No, Mrs. Fix-it, it's our baby."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey WiR fans! So, I know that this was supposed to be a one-shot, but (nervous laughter) it didn't really work out that way. I hope that this chapter lives up to your expectations, and if it doesn't, just bear with me until the next chapter. This chapter is dedicated to Teameida Creator and her little brother. The very first sentence of this story came from a private message where she told me about her brother's reaction to my story. Thanks for reading! **

The Fix-its : Chapter 2

"What? Video game characters can get pregnant?" Wreck-it Ralph was shocked. He was sitting in his house that he and Felix had built together off screen. Although he had been given the key to the penthouse, he had given them back to the mayor once they were sure that their game wasn't going to be unplugged. In his new house, everything was Ralph-sized except for Felix's, Vanellope's, and Tamora's chairs. Those were specially designed, and each had their place in Ralph's living room. Fix-it Felix was sitting in his overstuffed blue armchair, looking somehow nervous and happy at the same time.

"Of course, Ralph," he answered.

"But, I mean, how? It's obviously not in her code," Ralph replied, still mystified. Felix smiled.

"Brother, you of all people know that characters don't have to follow their code." Ralph leaned back in his huge red chair and thought about that. He did know that, very ewll in fact. It was miraculous that for one thing, that the Sgt. and Felix were married anyway, and for another that they and Vanellope each had a special place in his living room at all was amazing. All of this had come from breaking the code, and all of their lives had become infinitely better because of it. But still, Sgt. Calhoun was pregnant? That was some of the most unbelievable bits of news that Wreck-it Ralph had ever heard. He looked at his small coworker, and he started to chuckle.

"What? Why are you laughing?" asked Fix-it Felix, thoroughly confused.

"I can imagine you holding a baby, but Tamora? Never. How does she feel about this?" Felix grinned.

"She punched me in the face, twice," he replied enjoying the look on his friend's face.

"Wow. She was really bothered by it, then." Felix sighed.

"Yes, I think so at first, but now she's starting to come to terms with it, I think. I want to make a big deal out of this, you know? It's a baby, and it's our baby, but I don't know if a baby is what she wants. I just want her to be happy. " Ralph leaned across the wooden coffee table in between his and Felix's chairs and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, she is happy. I've seen her face when you have to leave. Sometimes she lets herself smile and she gets this almost romantic expression on her face when she's thinking about you." Felix started to blush. Just then, his wife walked in the door.

"There you are, Felix. Have you been here since the arcade closed?" She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. His face became even more red.

"Yes, honey. I was just talking to Ralph." She relaxed into her navy blue chair and asked.

"What were you talking about?" After it became clear that Felix wasn't going to respond, Ralph said,

"We were just talking about the little one on the way." She smiled.

"Is that all?" she asked.

"Yes," Felix answered hurriedly, "that's it. Ralph is very happy for us, right?" he turned to Ralph with such a desperate expression that he answered,

"Yes, definitely. Congrats." He had no idea why his best friend was so nervous, but he decided to play along with Felix's game. Tamora smiled and nodded.

"Okay. Fix-it, will you come with me, please? Wreck-it, will you excuse us?" Ralph nodded, puzzled. He did not like that smirk on the Sergeant's face, but he couldn't exactly say no. Felix blanched, but he walked to the door, as if he had no choice. His wife followed him, but just before she left, she turned back to Ralph.

"Hey, Ralph? Don't call me 'Tamora' ever again." She pulled the door shut behind her.

_Oh,_ Ralph thought. _That's why Felix was worried._


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi readers! Please please please tell me what I can improve on! I'm really excited about this chapter. This is my first chapter ever where I haven't written it out on paper then typed it. Also, the whole flashback bit wasn't planned, so I hope you really enjoy it. This chapter is dedicated to SephiruRibbon for giving me specific comments to fix this story. Thanks to all of my reviewers and followers! This story wouldn't continue without you. Please review! **

The Fix-its : Chapter 3

Felix had never been as scared before as he was following his wife down the hall to their apartment. Well, that wasn't strictly true. There was that time when they were in Sugar Rush fighting off cy-bugs. That was the absolute worst moment of his life. Ralph was gone; he had run off to do something that would supposedly get rid of the cy-bugs, but no one knew where he was or if he was okay. The little girl, Vanellope was stuck inside the game with no chance of escaping, and his dynamite gal was almost out of ammunition in her spare gun. The bugs were closing in; Felix knew that he couldn't leave Vanellope behind to be eaten. Sergeant Calhoun kept blasting every cy-bug in sight to smithereens. With all of the screeches of the bugs, the screams of the little girl, and the blasting of the gun, Felix could only keep one thought in his head. _Get her out_.

"Ma'am! You need to leave now!" he yelled up to the fierce warrior towering above him. In response, she handed him a grenade. He thought fast; didn't that one soldier that he knew from Tapper's say that you need to pull the pin out? _Worth a shot._ He quickly pulled the pin out and threw the grenade as far as he could. It landed on top of a cy-bug, and killed about ten of them. There was not any time for celebration, though.

"Ma'am, you need to get out! There are too many of them!" he shouted as loud as he could. She simply looked down at him while activating and throwing another grenade. "Get out, Sergeant! You could die!" _She has to leave. I can't die with the knowledge that she died too._ Felix knew that he was going to die, but he decided that before a cy-bug got him he was going to do everything in his power to protect Vanellope and save the Sergeant.

"What about you?" she yelled in response.

"That doesn't matter right now. What matters is that you have to get out. I'm going to stay here to protect Vanellope. Go!" With his last word, her spare blaster ran out of ammo. She dropped it quickly and kicked it off to the side. Her eyes widened as she realized what that meant.

"No! I can't leave innocent civilians to die." Felix was desperate now.

"Ma'am, if you don't leave now, you'll never be able to protect another innocent civilian again. Please, just go! I can't stand here and watch you die." The strangest expression came over the woman's face, almost as if she was … terrified. _No, that can't be. She never gets terrified. _

"No. I'm not going to let you die."

"Ma'am, you need to leave. Don't worry about me."

"I'm not going to let my loved one die again. Felix, I can't let you die! It happened with Brad, and I'm not going to let it happen to you, too! You can't leave me, Felix!" He froze, trying to process exactly what she was saying. Finally, he said,

"I'm not going to leave, ma'am." He knew that there was nothing that he could do to get her to leave at that time. What happened afterwards was a flurry of memory. Just trying to stay alive kept his brain from recording exactly what was going on, but when all of the bugs started flying into the fountain of, was that Coke? he could start processing things again. In the distance, he could hear Ralph yelling and Vanellope squealing.

""You did it, Ralph! Way to go, brother!" he yelled. In his excitement, he jumped up and kissed his dynamite gal on the cheek. The look on her face made him flinch. _I can't believe that I just did that!_ She grabbed his collar and pulled him up to face level. For a split second before he flinched away, he thought that he saw pain in her eyes, like an old wound that was being healed, but then a smirk that was almost saucy spread across the woman's face, and without any warning her lips were on his.

At that moment, he felt his wife shove him into their apartment and slam the door. _Anything would be better than having to live through that moment again, _he thought as he looked up at Tammy. Her not-so-innocent smile was gone, and she was staring at him grimly.

"Sit," she commanded. Fix-it Felix sat down nervously on the edge of the couch. She sat down next to him and leaned back into the cushions. She sighed. "Fix-it, we need to talk about that conversation with Wreck-it Ralph." He looked up at her and quickly said

"But I thought you said that I could tell people about…"

"That's not what I meant," Tamora interrupted. "I'm talking about what came afterwards."

"Oh."

"Felix, why would you think that I wouldn't want this baby?" she asked quietly. He looked down at the ground. All was silent.

"Well, your reaction when you told me the news was, um, startling." A huge smile spread across her face.

"I kind of scared myself that night. But that doesn't explain why you think I'm not happy or why you were so dang nervous when I asked to talk to you." With that, he face flushed with 'the honeyglows.' Tammy smiled, but she knew that if she was going to get any information out of him, she would have to be stern. Her face hardened and she demanded

"Answer me, civilian." Felix jumped.

"You can be pretty intimidating," he stuttered.

"Why, thank you. I thought that I was losing my touch. That still doesn't explain everything." Her husband took a deep breath and finally talked.

"Tammy, on our wedding day, I promised to love, comfort, and cherish you. I wanted your life to be as perfect as I could make it. Your job is so hard, killing cy-bugs all day, and you have to relive those flashbacks, and I just want you to be as happy as possible outside of your game. I guess, I don't know, I feel like I have to make every moment as good as possible. That's why I didn't talk to you about not being happy about the baby. I didn't want you to know that I was worried, and I was nervous because I didn't really want to have to say all this." His face was beet red. The hardened soldier was shocked.

"Seriously, Fix-it? You thought that you have to put on a show for me? I'm your wife for goodness' sake. Besides, it's in my code to be able to deal with fighting every day." Her husband's face burned even hotter.

"Yeah, I know. I feel stupid now." She reached out and touched her finger to his forehead.

"Yes, you do." He looked up at her for a second, confused, but then he got the joke and laughed. She laughed with him. Finally, he said

"I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

"Yes, but I love you anyway." She leaned down and kissed him. As she pulled back, she said

"I didn't know that you knew about the flashbacks." His face grew serious. At certain points throughout Hero's Duty, if the first person player could get far enough, they would get to see snapshots of the Sergeant's backstory. She could not do anything to stop them. Felix had found out about them from one of the soldiers that his wife worked with. When he went to go pick her up from her game, he would look over at the soldier, Private McClellan, and if he shook his head, then Felix knew to be especially careful with Tammy that night. Those were the days where she had relived her past.

"Yeah, well, um, Private McClellan told me."

"Oh, so that's what the nodding and signals you give each other mean," she said, smiling in realization. Felix sighed. _Of course she knew about those._ "I'll have to talk to him tomorrow."

The next day, a certain soldier in Hero's Duty was pulled aside by his Sergeant and given a rare medal, along with a promotion to Corporal. When he asked why, she replied

"For looking out for me, even if it was behind my back. I appreciate it, soldier."

**Wow, there was a lot more in this chapter than I had planned. Some elements from other Felix/Calhoun stories are in here, so I apologize if those are from your story. Imitation is the best form of flattery, though, right? Anyway, any ideas are appreciated, especially pertaining to Corporal McClellan. Thanks! Also, I noticed that the emblem on Sgt. Calhoun's blaster is actually the emblem for a Staff Sergeant, or SSG, which is actually one rank up from Sgt. Did anybody else notice that? **


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so, so, so sorry everyone! I really meant to update a few weeks ago, but you have no idea how much I've had to do, and for the first week of break, I didn't have internet access. Hopefully this chapter will make up for the long break. I introduced a new character! Please tell me what you think of both, and whether I should give the new character a large role or not. The next part is coming a lot sooner. Thanks, and once again I apologize. Onto the good stuff! Oh wait, I don't own Wreck-it Ralph or any of its characters. Now, onto the good stuff! **

The Fix-its : Chapter 4

Mrs. Tamora Fix-it could honestly say that she had never been inside a library until this day. Anything that she needed to know about her game she could find in the small shelf of manuals and histories in her room. If she ever wanted to read for fun, there were a few novels there as well. She had never needed anything else. Yet there she was, walking into the library game, Research Rush. There were not many peope there, and everything was quiet. It was too cozy for the soldier's tastes. The shelves were a rich brown wood, and the carpet was thick and warm, an emerald green. Every so often there was a stone fireplace, with armchairs huddled up close to it. Tamora's plan had been to walk right to the section she needed, but there were not any signs, or any way to tell where any subject was. She sighed. She was going to have to ask the librarian for help.

_Might as well get it over with. _At the reference desk, a young woman was sitting, reading Jane Austen's Pride and Predjudice. She was fairly pretty, with long soft brown hair, and big brown eyes, bordering on hazel. She was wearing purple glasses, and she fiddled with them as she read. The tough soldier walked quickly over to her, and gently cleared her throat. The girl quickly looked up, put a bookmark in her book, and stood up to greet her.

"Hello, my name is Sarah McClellan. How can I help you?" Her voice was soft and melodic, but it only calmed Tamora down a little bit. She was about to reveal to a random character that she was pregnant, and she was completely ignorant of what the girl's response would be.

"Um, can you show me where the parenting and, um, pregnancy section is?" Sarah had had to lean in to hear the end of Tamora's question, but if the rising of her eyebrows was any clue, she had heard exactly what the soldier said. Her eyes fell straight to the sergeant's stomach. A slight bump was visible through Tamora's civvies.

"Yes ma'am. Right this way." Tamora was impressed that the girl did not scream, or freak out. When the two women reached the section on children, far from the other patrons, Sarah turned around and asked

"Are you pregnant?" The girl looked so sweet and excited that Tamora could not lie to her.

"Yes." The librarian's face lit up and she grinned.

"That's so exciting! You are the first arcade game pregnancy recorded since 1957! What game are you from?" Sgt. Calhoun was overwhelmed by the girl's enthusiasm.

"Hero's Duty." Sarah's eyes doubled in size.

"So you're the Sergeant that married Fix-it Felix, Jr.? Sergeant Tamora Calhoun?"

"Yes, civilian. Now, can you recommend some books for my husband and I?" The pure admiration shining in the girl's eyes was pretty unnerving and Tamora wanted to hurry back to her home. This game unnerved her. The librarian immeadiatly turned to the shelves and started pulling off books. By the time she finished, she was carrying a stack of books that she could rest her chin on. When they got up to the front of the building, she quickly put the books in a canvas tote.

"Here you go. Have them back in three weeks."

"Thank you," Tamora replied. Sarah lowered her voice and said

"Don't worry about a library account, or me telling anyone. I won't tell until you're ready." The sergeant gave the girl one of her rare smiles.

"Thank you, Sarah."

"Felix!" Tamora called as she entered their apartment. She found a note on the kitchen table that read

_Hey Tammy,_

_ I'm at Ralph's. I hope you had fun at the library. I love you._

_ Felix_

She sighed as she picked up the heavy bags again. Normally she would not mind carrying the books, but her back hurt, and she still had to make sure that everything was going according to plan for the announcement party that night. On the outside, it was going to be a regular party, like the ones that the Nicelanders had often, but it was there that the Fix-its were going to announce that there was a little one on the way. She lugged the heavy tote down to Ralph's house, trying to ignore the strain on her back, and rapped sharply on the door. She heard a 'boing' from the other side, and the door opened to reveal her husband, covered in various forms of glitter and confetti.

"Felix, I need you to… why in Game Central Station are you covered in glitter?" He smiled cheerfully.

"Ralph and I were making sure that everything was perfect for the party. Would you like to come in and see? I'll take that bag." Before he could move to pick up the books, his wife grabbed him by the collar and kissed him soundly on the lips. When she put him down, thouroughly shocked, she smiled and said

"Sorry. I had a rough day, and I'm really glad that you planned the party." Felix started to blush.

"Why would you need to apologize? But in front of Ralph? You're giving me the honeyglows." Tamora looked over to see Ralph intently watching the paper napkins and utensils for the party as if they were going to jump up and start dancing.

"It's okay, Wreck-it. I'm going now. Felix, can you read those books when you're done planning the party? I'm going to go rest. Thanks, hon." She leaned down, kissed him on the cheek, and ruffled his hair, sending a shower of paper and glitter to the floor. "See you two later." Sgt. Calhoun pulled the door shut behind her. Ralph finally looked up. Felix was looking at the door as if it was the portal to eternal bliss. Ralph cleared his throat and said

"So, what are those books about?" The handyman shook his head and asked

"What?"

"Brother, what are the books about? The ones that Calhoun brought?" Ralph repeated with a grin.

"Oh. Um, I don't know." He started pulling out the books. "The Pregnancy Book, Parenting with Love and Logic, Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn, The New Dad's Survival Guide, and What to Expect When You're Expecting," Felix looked up at Ralph with wide eyes. "Do I have to?" he asked desperately.

"If you don't, she'll kill you, hit you with that hammer, then kill you again," his big coworker answered.

"I know," Felix replied miserably. "Will you read them with me? Please?" Although Ralph wanted with every number of code in his body to say no, the look on Felix's face forced him to stay. Slowly and painfully the started to work their way through the overwhelming knowledge of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting.

An hour or so later, Tamora heard a knock at the entrance to her apartment. When Mrs. Fix-it opened the door, she was only half surprised to see Ralph carrying her unconcious husband.

"He panicked that much?" she asked as she gestured for Ralph to come in. He lay Felix down on the sofa in the small apartment's living room.

"What did you expect? Holy motherboard, Calhoun, nine months of weird cravings, and... other stuff?" She huffed.

"Just be glad that you aren't going through it. How long has been passed out?"

"Only about ten minutes. I brought him back as soon as he fainted. Is he going to be asleep for a while?" Ralph was genuinely concerned. Felix did not appear to be very strong or courageous, but his coworker knew that he was both, and that it must have to taken a lot for him to pass out. As Tamora walked him to the door, she grinned wickedly and said,

"Don't worry. I know the perfect way to wake him up." The door shut Wreck-it Ralph out, and it did not open again until right before the party started.


	5. Author's Note

Author's Note

** Hey everyone. I'm so sorry that I disrupted the flow of the story. I personally hate when authors post ANs in the middle of their stories, but I really need help. Can you all please go to my profile and vote on my poll? It would mean the world to me! Thanks, and beautiful new chapters are coming soon, I promise. The next chapter will be really cool. Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 5

** Hey everybody! Once again, I'd like to apologize for the Author's Note, but I think that this chapter will make up for it. Please go vote on the poll on my profile if you haven't already. It would make my day! Please enjoy! Oh wait, I don't own Wreck-it Ralph or any of its characters. Okay, we're good. **

The Fix-its : Chapter 5

The party was a grand success. Apparently, Felix and Ralph's style was pretty popular. There were characters from every game in the arcade at the party. Tamora stood near the door to greet everyone, and she had to try her hardest to smile and not look angry when people did a double take when she introduced herself as 'Mrs. Tamora Fix-it.'

_For code's sake,_ she thought, _we've been married for six months now. You'd think that they would stop staring already._ She breathed a sigh of relief when her men showed up. She shook all their hands, letting a smile slip onto her face when she saw Corporal McClellan. On his arm was the girl from the library, Sarah.

"Sarah, I, um, what are, um, how do you know Corporal McClellan?" Sergeant Calhoun was thoroughly surprised to see her. _I didn't know that he was married!_

"Sergeant, this is my brother, James," Sarah said with a smile.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I thought that it would be all right if I brought my sister," the young man quickly apologized.

"No, no, it's fine; it's just that I didn't know that you two knew each other. I met Sarah today. I'll make sure to talk to you two later."

Luckily, the McClellans were near the end of the sea of people to find either Sarah or Felix. As she looked around to see if anybody she recognized was close, she ran into Sarah.

"Sarah!" Can you come with me for a moment?" she called over the loud music that was playing. She could see Vanellope and Felix dancing on the multicolored floor of the penthouse. She laughed quietly as she moved to the side of the room where tables were set up. Tamora and the librarian sat down at the bar. Here one could almost hear oneself think. "Did you tell him?" the soldier asked. Sarah simply shook her head. "Thank you."

"May I assume that this is an announcement party?" Sarah asked.

"Yes," Calhoun answered as the bartender walked up.

"Would you ladies like a drink?" he asked while getting out two glasses.

"No, thank you," Sarah answered.

"I'm fine," Tamora added.

"But Tamora, surely you want something. It could lead to some fun later tonight." The sergeant gritted her teeth.

"I said that I'm fine."

"You should! I have a wonderful special that I'm sure you would enjoy," the bartender prodded. She had never wanted to punch anyone in the face as badly as she wanted to right then. Her hands were under the counter, balled into fists. She felt someone take her hand and gently pull her away onto the dance floor.

"I think that now would be a good time for you to go dance with your husband," Sarah's caring voice counseled. Tamora breathed in, and out.

"Thanks civilian. I don't usually, well, never mind." _Now is no time to be showing weakness,_ she thought as she put on a fake smile and went to meet Felix on the dance floor.

xThe Fix-itsx

Finally, it came time for the announcement. Everyone was happy and laughing as they gathered in front of the stairs, where Felix was standing. He had wanted his wife to stand with him, but she insisted that they would look ridiculous, so she stood off to the side, leaning against the wall.

"Attention, everyone," called Felix as he waved his magic hammer in the air. The crowd quickly settled down, looking towards Felix expectantly. He cleared his throat, and said

"As you all know, my lovely wife Tamora and I married about six months ago, on March 2th." His wife snorted. _Of course he calls me lovely, that adorable little pansy. I'm about as lovely as an angry porcupine. _"Well, just a couple weeks ago, we got some wonderful news." Everyone started talking amongst themselves. Felix had to band his hammer against the doorframe to get the people's attention. "If y'all had kept listening, you would know what it was by now," he gently chastised. "Anyway, my wife Tamora and I are expecting a baby!" For a split second, there was not a sound from the crowd. They looked at Tamora, then back to Felix with looks of utter shock. Just when the silence was becoming awkward, Vanellope glitched onto the stage and yelled

"So I'm going to have somebody my age to play with?" Felix smiled and nodded. "Yea!" Ralph laughed and started to clap. Soon the whole room followed suit. The Nicelanders swarmed up on the stage to congratulate the dad-to-be. He looked over to see how many of his wife's men were surrounding her, but she wasn't there. He quickly scanned the room. She was not there. He wanted to leave to go find her, but the Nicelanders were so insistent, and it would be rude to turn them down. Maybe she just went to the bathroom or something.

After a good ten minutes of congratulations, Felix knew that his wife was not going to come back. He quickly jumped off the stage and dashed out the door. His cheeks flushed at the thought of his scandalous behavior, but right now, his lady was more important. He ran to their apartment, but she was not there.

"Tammy? Where are you?" he called, dashing through the halls. Finally, he went up onto the roof. It was the last place that he knew to check. "Tammy? Are you up here?" He could not see anything, but he thought that he heard something from what he knew was a corner of the building. He listened as hard as he could, trying to work his way over to the noise. He paused as he heard it again. It was a sob. Walking slowly, Felix made his way over to the edge of the building and walked forward cautiously. Soon he could see the silhouette of Tamora, with her knees pulled up to her chest and her forehead on her knees. He sat down next to her. He gently rested his hand on her back. She was shaking like a leaf. After a minute, Felix asked quietly

"Tammy, what's wrong?" She did not say anything for a second, but then her voice pierced the silence.

"I don't know if I can do this." Felix did not answer, so she kept talking. "My programmers wrote into my code that I was bullied as a child. The other kids didn't like me because I was tough, and I didn't like the pink bows and butterflies like they did. I don't want that for my baby. I thought, for one fragment of time, that characters would accept him, even if he wasn't programmed, but…" her voice cut off, and more sobs could be heard. Her husband rubbed her back comfortingly. "Felix, you saw how everybody reacted. Well, you probably didn't see it; you never see the bad in people, but I saw the disgust, the horror, the fear on some people's faces. Our baby is already hated, Felix, and he isn't even born yet!" Tamora had never broken down completely before, but something about the whole day, just straw after straw had been layed down on the camel's back of her emotional barriers, and something had snapped. The handyman next to her let her cry, waiting patiently until the storm calmed. Finally, he asked,

"Tammy, what's your birthday?" _Seriously? We have more important things to talk about,_ Tamora thought. Almost as if he could hear her thoughts, Felix said "Trust me, Tammy." The raw emotion that showed through that simple command was enough to make Tamora answer.

"November 15."

"Is that a real birthday, or is that programmed?"

"Programmed."

"Do you know when my birthday is? It's August 23, 1957. That's a real birthday, not programmed." Tamora did not understand what he was talking about. _Every video game character has a programmed birthday; it comes with being created._

"What?"

"My game wasn't originally my game. It used to be my pop's. He was married; it was a programmed marriage, but he loved my mother. After Fix-it Felix had been plugged in for five years, my mom found out that she was pregnant. Back in the beginnings of arcade games, it was fairly common for video game characters to become pregnant, because the child would be looked upon as a glitch, but my mother's pregnancy came at the tail end of that trend. By the time I was born, everyone looked at my mom as if she was a cybug. I learned later that a game in our arcade had been unplugged because a child was born in it, and the players reported it to the manufacturer. Ever since I could remember, characters would stare at me as if they didn't know what a child was. I remember one day, somebody pushed me, and I fell down and got scraped up. I ran home crying, and my mother told me that even if people were mean to me, if I was nice to them, they would warm up to me. Ever since then, I've tried to be as sweet as apple pie to everybody. Now when I go out, people usually wave and smile at me, bu there's still a few of the older characters that ignore me when I walk by. Anyway, the point of all that was to say that I know, and I'll be there with you the whole time."

Tamora was shocked but enthralled by the story. She could hardly believe that her sensitive, sweet, adorable husband had been disliked by everyone and had an interesting backstory. And he had been born!

"How did you get your name on the game?" she asked. Felix chuckled gently in the darkness.

"When I turned twenty-two, my dad gave me my golden hammer and let my play as an alternate main character. 'Fix-it Felix' became more popular than ever, and the arcade revenues went up so much that Mr. Litwak contacted the manufacturer. They sent someone to the arcade, and they took my game with them. Next thing I knew, the game was named 'Fix-it Felix Jr.' and my parents were completely gone. I learned that every Fix-it Felix game in the country had been changed in the same way. The programmers had copied my code and added it to thousands of games across the country." He fell silent, and nothing could be heard except chirps from the crickets in the woods and the faint hum of music from the penthouse. Tamora's mind raced, trying to wrap her head around what Felix had just said. Finally, the fact that his parents had essentially died clicked, and she said

"I'm sorry. About your parents, that is."

"Thank you, but that's not the point. Tammy, don't worry. Those characters don't hate you, and even if they did, you wouldn't need to worry about it. I will always be here for you, and we can face the world together." He reached out cautiously, and his hands found her shoulder. His hand climber up to hold her cheek, and he leaned forward, gently kissing her on the lips. He silently rejoiced that he didn't miss. He meant to pull away quickly, but she grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. By the time they went back to the party, both of the parents-to-be were beaming.


End file.
